Recurrent, Sclerosing, Traumatized Nevi

Abstract

We describe here three forms of nevus that we consider in some ways as allied lesions. Recurrent (or persistent) nevus appears at the site of a previous biopsy or excision of a melanocytic neoplasm. Traumatized nevus is a nevus with the stigmata of an acute, recent trauma. Sclerosing nevus is (supposedly) a continuous recurrence of a nevus after its partial destruction by chronic traumatic injury. All of them are all too often successful simulators of melanoma. In many cases, clinicians will not indicate that a nevus has been previously biopsied, so it is especially important for histopathologists to be alert to the signs of past biopsy or injury. While a request to review sections from a previous biopsy is sometimes intimidating, in reality it can protect the patient, the colleague who examined the previous lesion, and the pathologist examining the current one from the consequences of misdiagnosis.